Bondi-based journalist, Lisa Clark, has an acute appreciation for travel, fashion and photography. The marketing and PR graduate showcases her photography and styling prowess by creating beautiful and inspiring content for The Guide, on fashion, fitness and lifestyle.

I’ve tried it all; Zumba, hip hop classes, aerobics, pole dancing and the good old gym, but nothing seems to keep my interest up for more than a month. I used to spend all my time at the gym running on a treadmill, followed by aimlessly walking around, too embarrassed to lift weights as I thought people would judge me if my technique was incorrect. Zumba and dance classes weren’t for me either because I quickly realised that I was nowhere near as coordinated as I thought I was. Then I stumbled across high intensity training, or HIT as it’s known in the fitness industry.

HIT is a workout in which you alternate periods of high-intensity exercise with low-intensity recovery periods. F45 training which is currently taking the world by storm, is a completely different style of workout to any class you would find at the gym. After a week of weights, cardio and HIT I was hooked. I saw my physic change within weeks and now since adding yoga to my training routine, I haven’t looked back.
I thought I’d share a quick guide to interval training and my favourite HIT workouts. I do all of the below, with 45 seconds ‘on’, 15 seconds ‘off’ resting, with 4 x reps for each exercise.

Bent Over Dumbbell Reverse Fly

Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your knees slightly bent. Keeping your back flat and shoulders back bend forward at the hip joint. Exhale and lift both arms to the side and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Then, with control, lower the dumbbells back toward the ground.

Kettlebell Sumo Squats

Use two hands to pick up the kettlebell, and pull it up to your chest. Hold the kettlebell at chest level with both hands, making sure to keep your arms close to your body and elbows tucked in. Your feet should be slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, with your toes pointing slightly outward. Squat and repeat.

Assisted Pull Ups

Now we can all do pull ups, hallelujah!
Loop a band over the pull up bar, put your foot into the band, continue pull up using the resistance band to help hold your weight.

Overhead Weight Plate Split Squat

Stand in a wide stance with one foot in front of the other. Hold a weight plate with both hands and lift it above your head. Make sure you engage your core as you bend both knees to lower towards the floor into a squat position. Complete your reps on one side, then switch legs and repeat.

Clean and Press to a Back Squat

Hold the bar toward its ends and raise it, snatch style, over your head, so it’s directly above your ankles with your arms fully extended. Rest the bar on the back of the shoulders remembering to protect your neck then slowly squat.

An extra exercise for when you have a training partner:

Hand Slap Push Up

Start facing each other in push-up position. Leave enough room to clap hands. First lower your chest to the ground, push back to start and give your partner a high five with opposing hands. Return to the push-up position for one rep.

The most important part is to have fun! Grab the girls, train mean and grab a coffee when you finish – after all life isn’t meant to be taken too seriously!

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